Richland College currently has seventeen peace poles. Richland plants two peace poles each year, one in the fall semester and one in the spring semester. The peace poles are made of western red cedar which has a natural resistance to decay and insect attack. The messages are on plexiglas plaques. When planted they are about 6 ½ feet tall. The message "May Peace Prevail on Earth" is written in English on one side and in three other languages, one per side.
First Pole: Spanish, Swahili, Vietnamese, English
Second Pole: Chinese, French, Navajo, English
Third Pole: Philipino, Portuguese, Russian, English
Fourth Pole: Japanese, German, Arabic, English
Fifth Pole: Italian, Zulu, Urdu, English
Sixth Pole: Hindi, Korean, Swedish, English
Seventh Pole: Greek, Somali, Thai, and English
Eighth Pole: Cherokee, Hebrew, Serbo-Croatian, and English
Ninth Pole: Creole, Czech, Norwegian, and English
Tenth Pole: Finnish, Sign Language, Ukrainian, and English
Eleventh Pole: Dutch, Hopi, Yiddish, and English
Twelfth Pole: Aramaic, Danish, Hmong, and English
Thirteenth Pole: Pole Farsi, Malay, Polish, and English
Fourteenth Pole: Amharic, Lithuanian, Nepalese, and English
Fifteenth Pole: Bengali, Turkish, Wolof, and English
Sixteenth Pole: Hausa, Kurdish, Mongolian, and English
Seventeenth Pole: Cambodian, Magyar, Tigrinya, and English
Eighteenth Pole (Coming April 16, 2008): Estonian, Māori, Pashto, and English
Over 200,000 peace poles are planted in more than 180 countries around the world. Peace poles have been purchased and planted by elementary school children, college students, and civic and religious groups. You will find a peace pole at the magnetic North Pole, the Pyramids of El Giza in Egypt, Confucius Burial Site in Taiwan, Gorky Park in Russia, the Allenby Bridge on the border between Israel and Jordan, and the Atomic Bomb Dome in Hiroshima, Japan.
The Peace Pole Project was started by the World Peace Prayer Society, a nonprofit, member-supported, non-sectarian organization. Founded in Japan in 1955 by Masahisa Goi, the Society has its world headquarters in New York City, and is recognized as a Non-Governmental Organization associated with the Department of Public Information at the United Nations.
